KANSAS DAY.

September 1, 1898.

Attendance, 22,539.

This celebration by the citizens of Kansas was in charge of the Kansas
Commission as all state day celebrations were planned by their respective
commissions.  The exercises were held in the Auditorium at 11 o'clock A.M., and
consisted of

Music     .    .    By the Band.
Prayer    .    .    .    By Bishop Frank R. Millspaugh,
of Kansas.
Music     .    .    .    By the McPherson Quartette.
Address of Welcome  .    By Gov. Holcomb of Nebraska.
Response  .    .    .    By Ex-Governor Glick of Kansas.
Music     .    .    By the Quartette.

after which an address was delivered by President Wattles, as follows:

"At the dedication of the Kansas Building on these grounds, it was my pleasure
to speak briefly of the material resources, wealth and magnificent proportions
and fertility of the state.  I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without
reviewing those historic events which for many years made Kansas the
battle-ground of public opinion, and which finally culminated in the Civil War,
the Emancipation Proclamation, and the development of an independent
progressive civilization.
During the possession of Spain and France of the vast territory which now
constitutes most of the Trans-Mississippi country, very little was known of the
country, then supposed to be a wilderness, only habitable by savage tribes.  It
is said that Coronado was the first white man to explore the state.  He was in
search of rich provinces, rumored to abound in magnificent cities, with untold
wealth.  For nearly three hundred years after his unsuccessful search, history
is silent.  In 1820 Major Long explored a part of the state and described its
prairies as "billowy bays of grass ever rolling in shade and sunshine".  He
found in the western part of the state buffalo, elk and deer sufficient to feed
all the savages in the United States for a century to come.  But it was not
until 1853 that settlers in any large numbers came to make their home in this
then unorganized territory.  By the Kansas and Nebraska Bill, which became a
law in 1854, breaking down the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Kansas became the
theatre on which was to be enacted the first scene in the great drama of the
Civil War.  The contest for supremacy between the slaveholders and the
abolitionist began when the cavalier of the south and the Puritan of the north,
with conflicting ideas in morality, religion and politics, met to contest for
supremacy.  For many years the enthusiasts of both sides of the great question
of slavery emigrated from all parts of the north and south to this new
territory and engaged in contention for principles, rather than in the work of
developing the resources of the state.  The contests at the poles, at public
meetings, and in legislative bodies frequently culminated in scenes of blood
and carnage which excited the passions of both sections represented.  John
Brown was a fanatic only a few degrees more enthusiastic than many others who
went from the north and east to prevent the territory form declaring for
slavery.  The occupation of these early settlers was exciting but unprofitable. 
The framing of constitutions, the election of legislatures and the frequent
personal contests finally culminated in the triumph of the Free State Party and
the framing of a state constitution, which was ratified by the people in 1859
and finally approved by Congress in 1861, when the state was admitted to the
Union.

In seven years Kansas had had seven territorial governors, had framed four
state constitutions and had attracted the attention of the world to the great
issue of human slavery.  The remaining scenes in the drama were transferred to
the halls of Congress, to the political organizations of the nation and finally
to the battle fields of the civil war, and the people of Kansas, after years of
agitation and excitement, settled down to the more serious business of
providing homes and bread for a rapidly increasing population, but their
troubles were not to end.  1860 will forever be remembered as the year of
drouth and famine.  The records show that from June 1859 to November 1860 there
was not a shower of rain at any time sufficient to wet the earth two inches in
depth.  Throughout the entire state and many other states of the south the
blasting blight of famine and want was felt.  The word went out throughout the
land that men and women were starving and would suffer from cold and hunger
without the aid of other states.  The great heart of the nation was aroused by
these appeals, and from every quarter of the country came the response in aid
of suffering humanity.  The limited means of transportation were taxed to their
utmost to carry the gifts of the nation to the inhabitants of a suffering
state.  One third of the population of the state returned to eastern friends
and homes,  and for many years the evil effects and exaggerated reports of this
great drouth retarded the growth of this rich state.

Notwithstanding this great calamity those pioneers who remained on their farms
were richly rewarded by abundant crops and a period of prosperity which enabled
them to repay their debt to the nation by furnishing more troops in proportion
to population for the suppression of the rebellion than any other state in the
union.

The conflicting elements of the early pioneers became united by the marriage of
their sons and daughters.  The question of slavery ceased to be an issue, and
its final solution by the Emancipation Proclamation cemented all conflicting
elements,leaving only the enthusiasm the originality and the independence of
thought and action which at all times has characterized the inhabitants of this
state.

Great men in state and national affairs, willing and able to assert and
maintain original and progressive principles in philosophy, morals and
politics, stand out in the history of the nation, forever placing Kansas in the
front rank of reform.  Kansas was one of the first states to declare for
prohibition, to grant the mothers and sisters rights of property and franchise,
to protest against the combinations of capital and greed of corporations.  The
names of Lane, Plum and Ingalls have honored the state in the halls of
Congress, while Glick, Martin and Leedy are known throughout the land as men of
original ideas with the courage to enforce their convictions.  Mrs. Lease and
Jerry Simpson are types of the original, aggressive and progressive elements
which abound in this state.  We may denounce their theories, but we must admit
their sincerity.

With such a population, supplemented with a land of sunshine and rich soil
unsurpassed in fertility by any other state in the Union, Kansas will always be
found in the front rank in all progressive enterprises among the people of the
west.  The state is always represented at conventions for the promotion of
western interests.  At this Exposition which illustrates in such magnificence
the wealth, progress and prosperity of the great west, Kansas takes her place
with no apologies, from beets in greater quantities than can be extracted from
the cane which grows in Hawaii and Cuba.  Whether the energies of our people
should be diverted to the conquest of foreign, uncivilized subjects, or be
expended in developing and building up the untold resources of our present
domain, is a question worthy of the most serious consideration.

This occasion is neither proper nor opportune for the discussion of serious
subjects of policy or politics.  I congratulate the people of Kansas on the
magnificent opportunities this state offers to home seekers and investors.  I
congratulate the state on the enterprise and energy of its citizens, displayed
in the beautiful building and splendid exhibit at this Exposition.  I
congratulate the governor of the state, the commissioners and all of its
citizens here today on the success of Kansas Day, and wish for them one and all
such prosperity as the fortitude of their pioneers and the enthusiasm and
enterprise of their citizens deserve.


Address   .    .    .    President Thomas E. Wills,
of the Agricultural College of Kansas.
Music     .    .    By the Band.
Address   .    .    .    C.B. Hoffman, Regent State
Agricultural College.
Address   .    .    .    Thomas Ware of Topeka.
Music.
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